Thursday, 15 March 2007

Chrysanthemum

The central motif on the main book is a fabulous chrysanthemum. Some of the petals are padded, with those in the foreground more heavily padded than the ones behind. Padding is either 1 or 2 layers of cotton, a single layer of cotton under a layer of self-padding (in this case twisted silk) or a single layer of self-padding. The entire motif is one shade of silk plus gold. The left-hand petals are stitched with twisted silk only. To the right of the centre petals, first the tip of a petal is gold, then gradually more of the petal is stitched in gold until, on the far right, the entire petal is gold. This is a real beauty; I only hope that I stitch it well enough to do it justice.

I took several photographs to show how the padding is built up, but they are so out of focus that they are useless. This is the only usable photograph that I have of the first petals.

I am really pleased with what I have done so far. I took a lot of care with the stitching. The centre petal is the most heavily padded; it really stands out from the background fabric. When the petals immediately to the left and right are padded and stitched it may not stand out so much, but seen in isolation it looks lush!

It is aways a pleasure to 'met' another Japanese Embroiderer. Are you doing 'Bouquet from the Heart of Japan' for Phase I. Two ladies were stitch that in Bournemouth (UK) last week. It is quite lovely. If you decide to do Suehiro for your Phase II, I hope you enjoy her every bit as much as I did.